The first-ever race at Sepang for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship was a thriller, with Aprilia Racing Team’s Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli locked in a titanic battle for victory until the flag.

The race was incident-packed from the start as Loris Baz tangled with his Kawasaki racing team mate Tom Sykes, both riders falling and taking with them Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki).

With the incident creating a gap at the front the race, Guintoli and Melandri exchanged places at the front with Melandri eventually coming out as the victor and claiming his first win as a factory Aprilia rider. Guintoli was second.

Behind the leading two, a three way fight raged with Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) claiming the final podium spot ahead of Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team) and Toni Elias (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) who were fourth and fifth respectively.

Sixth at the end of the first 16-lap encounter of the day went to Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) who recovered from a bad start to get the better of his teammate.

David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team) claimed the EVO honours with a spirited ride to ninth overall ahead of Leon Camier (BMW Motorrad Italia) who was 10th. Australian Bryan Staring (Iron Brain Grillini Kawasaki) scored points with 13th on his first Superbike start of the year.

The possible threat of a thunderstorm at Sepang disappeared providing the enthusiastic Malaysian crowd one of the most hotly contested battles for victory this season.

With the air temperature rising, the race was initially red flagged after the MV Agusta of Claudio Corti expired resulting in a small fire that needed to be extinguished by the track side marshals.

With only three full laps completed the grid for the restart was determined by the positions at the end of lap three, meaning Guintoli was on pole ahead of Toni Elias (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) and Melandri.

The Kawasaki pairing of Sykes and Baz lined up alongside each other in fourth and fifth, with Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) sixth and therefore completing row two.

The restart, over 10 laps of the Sepang International Circuit didn’t disappoint, with the leading five riders locked together until the two factory Aprilia riders eased clear.

Melandri had to take avoiding action as he misjudged his braking point on the second lap, narrowly missing the back of his team mate Guintoli and Elias. Thankfully everyone stayed aboard treating the fans to one of the closest race finishes of the year.

Melandri and Guintoli exchanged places several times on the final lap with the Italian getting the better of his team mate once again to take a double win on the championship’s first visit to Sepang.

Reigning champion Sykes made amends after being taken out in race one to take the final spot on the podium. Loris Baz was fifth, Toni Elias a solid fourth and Jonathan Rea sixth.

Camier was the best classified EVO rider, racing to 12th at the end of the race ahead of Salom. Staring meanwhile missed out on points in race two, credited 16th.

Alessandro Andreozzi (Pedercini Kawasaki) and his teammate Romain Lanusse both crashed out, thankfully without injury.

2014 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round six – Sepang, Malaysia

Superbike race one results:
1. Marco Melandri
2. Sylvain Guintoli +0.620s
3. Eugene Laverty +12.865s
4. Chaz Davies +15.437s
5. Toni Elias +15.723s
6. Jonathan Rea +31.304s
7. Leon Haslam +34.093s
8. Davide Giugliano +35.804s
9. David Salom +42.031s (E)
10. Leon Camier +49.465s (E)
13. Bryan Staring (AUS) +1m10.746s (E)

Superbike race two results:
1. Marco Melandri
2. Sylvain Guintoli +0.166s
3. Tom Sykes +2.689s
4. Toni Elias +5.386s
5. Loris Baz +5.514s
6. Jonathan Rea +7.073s
7. Eugene Laverty +7.476s
8. Chaz Davies +11.057s
9. Alex Lowes +15.866s
10. Davide Giugliano +16.206s
16. Bryan Staring (AUS) +46.127s (E)

Superbike championship standings:
1. Tom Sykes 201
2. Sylvain Guintoli 188
3. Jonathan Rea 179
4. Loris Baz 170
5. Marco Melandri 147
6. Chaz Davies 130
7. Davide Guigliano 96
8. Eugene Laverty 90
9. Leon Haslam 89
10. Toni Elias 89

Click here for detailed results